If you think the debate over illegal immigration revolves strictly around the disagreement over what to do with those already here illegally, you haven’t been paying attention.  For anyone who really wants to end illegal immigration and preserve our sovereignty, the solution is not an enigma.  All we have to do is actually implement the border and interior enforcement mechanisms that both Republicans and Democrats claim to support.  All new illegals would be barred from getting jobs immediately.  Finally, we would eliminate all welfare and birthright citizenship for future waves of illegal immigration so that they can’t drop anchor babies and get on the welfare doles.

At that point, the question of what to do with those already here will be minimized and any legal status granted will be done from a position of strength – knowing that we will not encourage a new surge of illegal migration.

Yet, indeed, that is not what the majority in the leadership of both political parties desire.  They support permanent de facto open borders.  And their selfish and insidious desires are actually engendering a massive surge in illegal immigration as we speak.  The irresponsible policy of passionately advocating for amnesty before illegal immigration is halted has always resulted in perennial lawlessness and it always will.

Last week, the New York Times reported on the surge in illegal crossings in the Rio Grande Valley of Texas.  This is part of the broader increase in illegal immigration during each of the past three years.  As the Times notes, much of the increase is from Central American migrants who come here to take advantage of our absurd and outdated refugee and asylum policies:

“Under asylum law, border agents are required to ask migrants if they are afraid of returning to their countries. If the answer is yes, migrants must be detained until an immigration officer interviews them to determine if the fear is credible. If the officer concludes it is, the migrant can petition for asylum. An immigration judge will decide whether there is a “well-founded fear of persecution” based on race, religion, nationality, political opinion or “membership in a particular social group.”

Immigration officials said they had set the bar intentionally low for the initial “credible fear” test, to avoid turning away a foreigner in danger. In 2013, 85 percent of fear claims were found to be credible, according to federal figures.

As more Central Americans have come, fear claims have spiked, more than doubling in 2013 to 36,026 from 13,931 in 2012.

Undoubtedly, we need immigration reform to pass Congress.  But much like healthcare reform and Obamacare, the type of reforms we need are antithetical to those proposed by the open border lobby. We are in serious need of cracking down on abuses in our refugee and asylum policies.

It is simply unconscionable that liberals would hold up border enforcement and visa tracking until they get amnesty for illegals.  It is even more appalling that Republicans let them get away with it.  Just last week, a Moroccan national who was here on an expired visa was arrested for plotting to blow up a federal building.

“El Mehdi Semlali Fahti, 26, entered the United States legally on a student visa six years ago. Fahti had been planning to use a remote-controlled airplane to deliver the bomb and stated, according to an affidavit, that “the bomb that he planned to use would be made for him and he claimed that everything is available in Southern California on the border.”

But he could not be deported and was released, according to Special Agent Anabela Sharp in an affidavit, because Fahti was granted a “withholding of removal of relief” order “on or about August 16, 2013 based on his claim of fear of persecution based on asylum.”

That order precluded the United States from deporting him back to Morroco, and Special Agent Sharp testified that there is probable cause to believe that his application for deportation relief was based on fraud. For instance, even though Fahti claimed in his application that he would be persecuted based on political opinion if deported back to Morocco, he was never arrested in his home country for his political beliefs, which is something his father also confirmed.”

It is a tragedy that Republicans have taken one of the most important issues off the table, opting to join the Democrats instead of going on offense by demanding real immigration reform.

To digress for a moment, let’s juxtapose what’s going on with our borders to the way the Bureau of Land Management (BLM) is treating the Bundy Ranch in Nevada.  They are rounding up his cows for grazing on federal lands he owned before the Department of the Interior decided to buy up almost the entire state of Nevada.  They are coming out with full paramilitary force to get rid of the cows “trespassing” on federal land.  Yet, these same people have no problem with illegal aliens trampling through our national parks, which has gotten so bad that some parks were forced to close.  In fact, they tie the hands of the border agents protecting the safety and sovereignty of all Americans while the BLM police are waging a full-scale war on harmless cows for violating the Endanger Species Act.

It’s time for Republicans to start acting like an alternative party and fight for America’s sovereignty instead of joining with Democrats to subvert it.

Cross-posted from The Madison Project